The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-08-06
ARTISTIC TILES.
A Short Sketch of an Important Branch
of the POttar,A Art.

I
Dotter's art from earliest times has been
he manufacture of tiles. Some of the
most interesting examples have come
to us from the Arabs and the Moors OF
Spain, whose works are generally
termed IIispano-Moresque. The Ara
bians possessed the most valuable secrets
of color and composition, which they
guarded religiously, and the ruins OF
Cordova, Granada and Seville bear
witness to the beauty and skill of their
industry. The halls and courts and
galleries, the arabesques and networks,
even in their ruin, remind us forcibly
of the knowledge and power of his
strange race.
Tiles were among the first products
of their manufactures, and were used
in every useful and decorative form.
They entered largely into architectural
| construction, both interior and exterior.
They ornamented the facadcs of palaces
and formed walls, ceilings and floors of
their halls and rooms. Time and change
have in no way affected these glittering
remnants of forgotten splendor, and
centuries to come can not dim the
beauty of their colors nor the brilliancy
of their glare.
What fabulous sums are expended
yearly on carpets and hangings that
are worn out and thrown aside by each
generation! How much better it would
be to adopt some of the customs of
these pagans, from an economical
standpoint, and artistically, what could
be more beautiful than floor or cell
ing composed of some of the exquisite
cololed tiles arranged in Moresque
design that we find largely imported
from England and also furnished by
our American tile manufacturers.
The earliest example of tiles found
in England appear to have been manu-
featured about the end of the thirteenth
or the beginning of the fourteenth
centuries, and during the following two
centuries their variety and number in
creased greatly. About this time tiles
were imported largely from Flanders,
, OIt Nltt iiOJ bCCIh w sthCCI IHC
facture of English tiles.
In those days, when the sudden revo-
luton of religious ideas and forms led
TO wanton destruction of all that served
to remind them of creeds, much of his
torical interest and value was de-
stroyed. Richard, Earl of Cornwall. a
man of enormous wealth, expended
vast sums in founding and endowing
monasterjes and priories, amongst
them Beaulieu in Hampshire and Hayles
in Worcestershire. In the ruins of
these abbeys, and also of others in
Hampshire, as we'll as in churches in
other parts of England, we find tiles
bearing heraldic and armorial devices
in various combinations, which gives
evidence of their having been made by
the monks of that period, in commem-
Grafton of his benefactions. In almost
every part of the country Richard
either possessed lands or He had made
his memory imperishable through his
benefactions, and in all localities, if
there are any tiles still in existence, we
would probably find many varieties
bearing his arms.
Had the chronicles of the world been
preserved in the imperishable clay, per-
fected by fire in the form of tiles, what
histories that are forever lost might be
in our possession to-day!
How very much the Chinese owe to
their pottery, which has given them tho
histories of many dynasties, and which
have been so religiously preserved in
the imperial repositories.
To what great length we might go
with this most interesting subject, for
almost every country and every race
have given us some evidence of their
familiarity with the art of tile making.
1t is claimed by our American tile
manufacturers that the products of their
factories are not equaled by those of
any country at the present time. We
shall be very proud to know this to be
fact, and shall take great interest and
pleasure in informing ourselves and our
readers further on this.
The decoration of tiles does not seenS
to find favor with many of our amateur
decorators-the reason we DO not UNDER
stand. How very many ornamental
and useful places they might fill in our
homes. yet almost the only use to which
they have been put that has come under
our notice is in the decoration of fire.
places. hearths and mantels.
A few designs have been given in art
journals for amateur decorators use,
such as umbrella stands, window boxes
for flowers, mantel embellishments,
ETC.; but these are only a hint of the
various useful and ornamental uses to
which they are adapted. Certainly,
from hygienic view, they should be
recommended by the medical profession
for public as well as private buildings,
as they neither attract nor retain dust
dirt OF disease. China Decorator.